


This Time is Different

by bookplayer



Series: Life in Stoneybrook [2]
Category: Baby-Sitters Club - Ann M. Martin
Genre: Community: babysitters100, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-09
Updated: 2011-10-09
Packaged: 2017-10-28 05:27:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/304254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookplayer/pseuds/bookplayer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stacey has just moved back to Stoneybrook, and is wondering what's changed (and what's stayed the same.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	This Time is Different

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for the babysitters100 community at livejournal.

I watched Izzy glance back at me as she approached the school. I smiled, even though I was tearing up a little, and I gave her a wave. She grinned, then turned around and darted inside.

I stood there a little while, thinking about my oldest baby growing up and starting kindergarten. Then I looked around and smiled. It wasn't how I'd pictured this day, but I was cooler with it then I could have imagined.

A lot of the reason for that was the wide, tree lined sidewalk on a quiet street where we were standing. Sure, there were a lot of other parents around, walking and in cars, but it was nothing compared to New York City, where we'd lived until about two weeks ago. In New York, Izzy would have had to take the bus to a private school, and I would have had to worry about traffic and crime and terrorists, not to mention whether the school was good or if she'd make friends.

I never thought I'd be standing in front of Stoneybrook Elementary, waving to her. It felt so safe and familiar, even if I never went to school there. And now that she was inside, I could just walk with my littlest two over to my mom's house.

Caleb and Micah were in a double stroller. Caleb was three, and Micah was one, and as we walked Caleb was looking around, “Mommy? While we're in the park, can I have a hot dog?”

I tried not to laugh, “This isn't the park, honey. This is our town now. See the houses?”

“Where are the people?”

“There aren't as many people here. But do you know where we're going?”

“Where?” He asked, suspiciously.

“To see Gran!”

“Yay!”

He got distracted, looking at a woman walking a dog. As I walked, I picked out houses that I'd known. The Braddock's, the Prezzioso's, the Pike's. I wondered who still lived there. I hadn't been back, except for the occasional visit to mom, since I was 18. That was ten years ago. A lot can happen in ten years. For example, someone can go to college, start a career, meet the man of her dreams, get married, have two kids, leave her career, have another kid, wonder if the man she married is really the man of her dreams, and move to the suburbs.

Just for example.

As we came to the corner of mom's street, the light pole was covered in fliers. I smiled, wondering how many xeroxed pieces of paper I'd taped to that pole in my life. Of course I had to stop to read them. One was a yard sale, one was a lost cat. There was one advertising a parent meet-up in the park that weekend. That sounded like a good idea, I decided I'd check it out Saturday if the weather was nice.

The last one made me grin. It was very professional looking, and said clearly “Experienced Babysitter. 13-years old. Reasonable rates, good references, available weeknights until 10 pm, Friday and Saturday until 11 pm.” Then there was a phone number.

I wrote down the phone number. I was bound to need a sitter eventually. I hoped this person was good. As I walked to my mom's house I started laughing because I couldn't help thinking,  _wouldn't it be nice if there was one number I could call and reach four responsible babysitters?_

I was still grinning I knocked on mom's door. She opened it, made a fuss over the kids, and happily helped me lift the boys out of the stroller.

We set Caleb up with a coloring book, and I put Micah in a playpen while mom got us some coffee.

“So, on the way over I was wondering, who still lives around here?” I asked, as she handed me a cup.

“Boy, Stacey, I don't know, I haven't kept up with all of them. I was never the social butterfly you were.” She said, smiling. Mom looked great, she had this funky short haircut, blonde with brown highlights. She'd moved up the ranks as a buyer for Bellairs department store, so now she worked from home a lot, or traveled to exciting places for trade shows.

I looked pretty good myself. My hair was short, too, but the cut was softer then mom's, and right now it was more strawberry blonde. And I'd tried to find the right balance of 'trendy' and 'mom' for Izzy's first day at school, with black designer jeans and a white top with black flowers. I caught some raised eyebrows from the mom's at the school who'd been in sweatpants, but I looked good and felt great, so I didn't worry.

Mom thought for a moment, “Well, I know Dee and John Pike are still back there. Claire just moved out. I see Sharon Spier at the gym every now and then, she and Richard are still around. And I saw Rioko Kishi at the grocery store, about a month ago. She said she hadn't heard from Claudia.”

That was a shame. I hadn't heard from Claudia in years. I would have loved to get in touch with her, but I guessed if she hadn't been in touch with her parents there wasn't much hope.

“Janine is back in town, though. She has a job with a pharmaceutical company in Stamford.”

“That sounds about right.” I said.

“Of course, you know the Johanssen's are still here, except for Charlotte.”

I nodded. Charlotte and I kept in touch, and she was on my facebook. So was Karen Brewer, who apparently friended everyone she was remotely connected to. I had all her posts set to ignore, they were long-winded and full of drama. I looked at her profile, but Kristy probably didn't have a page, because she wasn't listed there.

“I think the Ramsey's moved, and I think the Braddock's moved last year. But that's about all I know.”

“It's weird how some things have changed and some things haven't.” I said.

“How are you and John settling in?” She was watching me carefully. She'd leaned a lot when I was a teenager, about how to tell when I wasn't being honest.

“We're doing fine. He can almost sleep without all the light and noise by now.” I said, smiling.

Mom knew that things weren't as happy at the Dayton's as I put on. Things weren't bad, really. Just a little stressful. Parenting is hard work, and moving is hard work, and then John had to change jobs so we could come here, so he's working hard to try to prove himself there.

But I felt so much better here then I had in the city. I didn't have to worry as much. Taking the kids out didn't feel like some sort of expedition. In New York, we spent weeks looking at dozen's of schools for Izzy. Here we only had to pick from three, and I decided right away she should go to SES. I was sure that as soon as John got settled at work we could get back to how things were before I left the interior design firm I was working for. Maybe I could even find a way to start working a little.

Mom and I chatted until it was time to pick up Izzy, then I loaded the other kids in the stroller again. Caleb and I sang “B-I-N-G-O” as we walked back to the school, and I knew this was going to work out. It had to.


End file.
